


Sandstorm

by pajama_cats



Series: Diamond in The Rough [11]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions, Pokemon Colosseum & XD
Genre: Action/Adventure, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pajama_cats/pseuds/pajama_cats
Summary: After a week of chasing down Team Magma, Wes finally catches up to them at some ruins in Route 111.
Relationships: Leo | Wes/Tsuwabuki Daigo | Steven Stone
Series: Diamond in The Rough [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837282
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Sandstorm

If there's one good thing Wes is glad of right now it's the desert.

After spending a week chasing after Team Magma, Wes finally caught up to them and saw grunts scattered throughout the desert. Unfortunate for them since he had the home field advantage.

For once he's actually  _ thankful  _ for Orre since the rough weather of Route 111 hardly bothers him. In fact the dry hot wind reminds him of the times he spent racing across Orre on his hovering motorcycle along with Espeon, Umbreon and Rui.

The Team Magma grunts on the other hand..

"What's the matter? Isn't this the ideal world your leader wanted?" Seriously, didn't they think this through? They're all so smitten with their “ _ clever”  _ leaders' plan that they don't think what will become the reality of it.

"You— you think you're so smart!" A Magma grunt then gets slapped in the face by a gust of sand and hunches over to spit the sand out of their mouth. 

Wes would be lying if he said he didn't get  _ some  _ enjoyment from watching them struggle in the desert.

And right now these two particular grunts had no bite to their bark since he already wiped out their Pokemon. Which meant he could  _ finally  _ get into the Ruins they failed to guard.

"It doesn't matter if we lost since our leader is going to destroy you!" The other grunt exclaimed proudly. "Then we'll get out of this awful desert once Maxie captures that rare Pokemon with the ability Drought!"

"You weren't supposed to tell him that!" The other grunt stomps his foot down and glares at his accomplice. "Next you're going to tell him we have a meeting at Fallarbor Town after this mission!"

Both grunts glare at each other before it dawns on them the secret information they weren't supposed to be speaking of was being waved around. Wes can't help but laugh as the two decide to bail on their leader and go racing out of the desert as quick as they can. 

_ Well, guess I know where I'm heading next.. _

With that information in mind Wes makes his way into the Ruins. It was actually more put together than anyone would think based on the outside of it. However on the inside it had six pillars, three on each side of the room, and four vases at the end of the room..

..That happened to have a shiny female Volcarona fluttering behind the vases. The Volcarona must have been ancient due to it having the rare ability Drought that the previous grunts mentioned.

..And it seemed that Maxie also happened to be currently battling.

_ Great. _

Fortunately Volcarona was holding up surprisingly and easily well on it's own against the Team Magma leader. Guess he wasn't too much to brag on after all. 

Maxie let out a frustrated sigh when Camerupt's Rock Slide was unsuccessful as Volcarona skillfully evaded the attack. Volcarona almost seemed like it was enjoying his frustration.

"Still don't get why so many people admire you." Wes speaks up, causing Maxie to fumble with his glasses looking more irritated than he did mere seconds ago. 

_ Good,  _ Wes muses. The feeling was mutual then.

He barely paid Courtney any mind who looked more curious than upset like her leader. 

"Can't those grunts do anything right.." Maxie grumbled under his breath. "Courtney, deal with him."

Courtney looked between the two of them, although didn't immediately follow orders. Her dull eyes stared at Volcarona that let out a small shriek by the three trainers, and upon further observation Maxie's Camerupt was uninjured, other than where the Sandstorm had damaged it. 

Which really, is odd considering it took him some time to get to the Ruins. Who knows how old the Pokemon was, but she could have easily taken down Maxie if she wanted to.

"It unfortunately has taken interest in you as well," Maxie frowns, finally turning his attention away from Volcarona to tiredly send Wes a look. "If it refuses to fight back then I must prove myself as a worthy trainer to gain its cooperation."

_ Highly doubt that will happen.  _ Wes rolls his eyes, but as Courtney calls for her Camerupt to come over it's official that the battle has now begun.

Wes clicks his tongue but since he was facing two of the same Pokemon he decided to send out two of his own. Throwing out two pokeballs, two Gastrodon appeared; one pink and brown to represent it was from the West Sea and the other blue and green being from the East Sea.

Both perfect for the desert,  _ especially  _ when their Sand Force abilities increased their power during Sandstorms. 

"Camerupt, use Take Down!" Maxie ordered. The Camerupt let out a roar, stomping its hooves down on the ground and began targeting his West Sea Gastrodon. It was apparent the Sandstorm was already inflicting damage on Camerupt the more it ran through the storm and Wes looked towards his East Sea Gastrodon giving it a nod.

"Shadow Panic!" 

A dark shadow swirl with stars floating in it was sent hurling towards Maxie's Camerupt, causing the Pokemon to stop in its steps and looked around the room in its now confused state.

Upon noticing Maxie was reaching for his pokeball to return his Camerupt, Wes looked over at his West Sea Gastrodon and sent out an order.

"Shadow Hold on Camerupt!"

The attempt to send back his Pokemon proved to be futile now that Camerupt was forced to stay out until it fainted.

“Camerupt, Eruption.” Courtney calmly ordered, backing Maxie up. Though not like it was a concern to Wes.

“East, Block it with Shadow Pulse!” The blue and green Gastrodin sent a powerful wave of shadow aura water towards the fire explosion that came from the back of Camerupt, causing the room to be filled with steam and sand. 

“West, use Shadow Rave! East, use Shadow Surf!”

Purple spikes appeared out of the ground, each one springing from the ground as they got closer and closer to the two Camerupts. A dark purple wave of water came from his Gastrodon, taking over the room in darkness and even Volcarona had to fly clear to the ceiling just to avoid getting splashed by the attack. With the steam and sand taking over their sights, nothing could barely be seen, and to make matters worse for Team Magma the spikes were hidden under the water and made a direct hit to their targets, knocking the Camerupts together as if they were stumbling after an Earthquake. 

Volcarona used her wings to make the steam disappear, although the sandstorm continued to rage on, but it was obvious their Pokémon fainted. Both Gastrodon’s chirped happily about their victory but Maxie stood making a grim face as Courtney backed out of the battle.

“This isn’t over.” Maxie glared, returning his Camerupt along with Courtney and sent out a Mightyena and a Crobat. Guess the guy  _ did  _ have a heart if he managed to evolve it. 

Wes decides to return both of his Gastrodon in favor of switching them out with his Gigalith and Probopass. He could easily keep using his Gastrodons, but since most of his party consisted of Shadow Pokemon it’d be good for them to lower the darkness within them.

And every turn that’d pass by his Gigalith and Probopass would, like Gastrodon, power up their attacks due to also containing the ability Sand Force.

“Crobat use Mean Look!” 

Did he really start with that move just because he used Shadow Hold in the last battle? What a waste of a move. Oh well, he didn’t intend on switching out anyway. 

“Gigalith, Shadow Rush on Mightyena!”

The rock type leaned backwards before sprinting across the room towards Mightyena. Maxie’s eyes widened at the speed and ordered his Mightyena to clash with it using Take Down.

However, the heavier Pokemon won by a mile, who effortlessly knocked Mightyena to the ground, but stood back up after struggling to get back on its feet.

“Mightyena use Embargo on Probopass! Crobat, follow with Poison Fang!”

Oh so  _ that  _ was his plan. Try to poison Probopass that way he couldn’t switch out or heal his Pokemon.

Unfortunately for Maxie, Wes didn’t intend on letting that plan get by him either.

“Probopass use Shadow Bolt on Crobat! Gigalith, back Probopass up by using Shadow Break!” 

A shadow cloud of dark purple shot out from Probopass and the electricity within it crackled as it made contact with Crobat as soon as it got close enough to attempt its Poison Fang. Instead of getting a mouthful of Probopass it got hit with a powerful dark electricity. 

Meanwhile Gigalith was using a move similar to Shadow Rush, except with more of an impact to Mightyena. The dark type got sent across the room, flying past Maxie and making contact against one of the pillars and fell flat on the ground. Maxie gritted his teeth as he returned Mightyena and Wes shifted his gaze to the struggling, now paralyzed Crobat who could barely fly, especially with the sandstorm affecting it.

“Probopass, use Shadow Wave!” 

“Crobat, use Haze!”

“Gigalith, Shadow Mist!”

While Haze  _ did  _ heal Crobat enough to get up, it couldn’t evade fast enough due to Shadow Mist taking effect. The dark mist surrounded Crobat like a smokescreen, making the Pokemon try to send the shadowy aura away with its wings. 

Probopass’s Shadow Wave came out to surround Crobat, almost dancing around in a taunting manner before bombarding the Crobat with its mysterious dark power and finally knocking the flying type out.

Maxie looked so startled by losing that his glasses were askew on his face. He quickly collected himself by adjusting his glasses to try to look calm again. Wes bit back a laugh, though he’s sure his smug face only worsened Maxie’s mood.

“Don’t think this little victory of yours means anything.” Maxie spat, clenching his fists and stopping beside Wes. “You may have won today, but this means nothing to my plans. Team Magma will prosper without Volcarona, and I  _ will  _ succeed with advancing Hoenn for the sake of humanity.”

Maxie passed by him, and Courtney lingered behind, smiling at Wes with her eyes looking not as dull as when he first arrived. “Your skills.. They are far superior than Maxie’s.. Saving data..”

_ “Courtney.”  _ Maxie snapped, standing outside the Ruins and Courtney rushed past Wes to catch up with him, though not before sending him another smile.

..Something about her made him feel uneasy.

Wes is knocked away from his thoughts as he feels a gust of wind on his back, and when he swiftly turns he finds Volcarona approaching him with a happy chitter. She nudges against his shoulder, making his messenger bag get knocked backwards and nudges at the bag from where he put away his Pokemon.

“You want to join my team?” Wes asks, eyes briefly wide from surprise. The happy shriek he gets has him laughing so he took out a pokeball for her to go into. Well, there wasn’t anything wrong with that. Plus he could protect Volcarona from Team Magma if they attempted to catch her again, or forced her to use her ability.

Wes gives Volcarona a gentle ruffle on the head and watches her nudge against the pokeball that she wholeheartedly accepts as it clicks after the first shake. Wes grabs the ball with a fond smile, storing it away in his bag. 

_ Guess I should be heading to Fallarbor Town now.. _

Wes begins to make his way out of the ruins but a glittering orange stone catches his eye behind a pillar. After he walks over and brushes the sand away his eyes light up upon finding a pile of Sun Stones.

Wes turns beside him, opening his mouth to exclaim his new finding—

But then he remembers Steven’s not there with him anymore.

His heart drops at this, in disappointment is what he believes, though he can’t help but miss Steven’s company.. He once mentioned something about having a rock collection, and inside his Mauville Hills apartment there was a small glass case full of stones too.

_ Hopefully Steven’s doing well..  _ Wes holds a Sun Stone in his hand, tracing his fingers along the smooth stone and decides with a small smile that he’ll collect them for Steven. Surely he’d be excited to receive them next time they meet again.   
  
And it is always nice seeing the way his eyes light up anytime the topic switches to one of stones.

After collecting the pile of Sun Stones, Wes heads out of the Ruins and observes the desert from where he stands. If there were Sun Stones in there he wonders what else he’ll find..

With a grin, Wes decides to postpone his journey to Fallarbor Town in favor of seeing what other treasure he can dig up in the desert.    
  
And more importantly he hopes to find more gifts for Steven to cherish as well.

**Author's Note:**

> At least Wes doesn't have to get near the sea again (for now). As always thanks to my requester for this prompt! Hopefully this turned out okay! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
